Sajid Javid has said he was not expected to go on to higher education because he grew up in Easton.

Mr Javid, who is now a member of Theresa May's Cabinet, attended Downend School between 1981 and 1986 and lived in Stapleton Road, Easton.

The 47-year-old Communities and Local Government Secretary said his schools’ careers adviser “all but laughed in his face” when he asked about higher education.

Writing in The Times, Mr Javid said he spent his childhood living in a flat on Stapleton Road, which he said was "part of the world that the tabloids have branded 'a moral cesspit' and 'Britain’s most dangerous street'".

Read More

The Secretary of State said this was an early lesson in how you are perceived depending on where you live.

Although Mr Javid didn't think that where he lived said anything about what he could do with his life, other people did, he said.

He wrote: "When I was a teenager and asked about dong A-levels, maybe going on to higher education, the school careers adviser all but laughed in my face. The message was clear: Stapleton Road kids don't go to university. Never have, never will."

Mr Javid used the example of his own upbringing to announce a review of social housing policy in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster.

The fire at the 24-storey west London tower block on June 14 killed around 80 people and Mr Javid said residents were ignored or dismissed.